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9/9/08

Move over Hummus

I used to go to this sushi restaraunt in Atlanta that, in addition to having banana sushi and other vegan delights, served every meal with a complimentary salad and miso soup. The salad was drenched in this absolutely scrumptious miso ginger dressing that made you scrape the bottom of the little glass bowl for any remaining carrot shred. I was dying for the recipe for this stuff, but being a shy collegiate girl I never asked. Plus, I didn't know what miso even was. Turns out, its sort of a fermented soy product that is packed with protein and is a Japanese staple. (I heard its a good immunity booster for cold season as well!) Unfortunately, I couldn't find a sushi place with the amazing dressing in DC, so I forgot all about it.

Fast forward to law school. To cheer myself up from dreary classes and the even drearier cafeteria, I would often venture to Dupont circle to trat myself to a vegan empanada or other such treat. But there's also this amazing restaurant called "Teaism" that I have been frequenting on occasion. They have this insanely good (albeit, expensive) bento box with edamame, raw tofu in a soy broth, rice with a ton of gomashio, and this absolutely amazing sweet potato salad. The salad is simple: roasted sweet potatoes at room temp covered with... why, its that same miso dressing! Its like pure magic on all orange veggies! It has this creamy, sour, salty taste that reacts like magic with the sort of earthy/ sweet taste of roast vegetables.

And so today, when I ran across a bottle of the stuff at wh0le foods, I had to make my meal around it. (Apparently you can make it yourself too.) And despite the crappy pic (I left my camera in Chicago, dammit) it was SO good. Merely roasted baby carrots and sweet potatoes (coated in EVOO prior to roasting) served with ginger-garlic kale. My roomie, who's not crazy about kale, found that when she wrapped it around the carrots and dipped it in the sauce it was DELISH. I should have made twice as much, literally.

Other ideas for miso dressing:-Obviously amazing as a salad dressing-A dip or fancy drizzle for vegan sushi-Drizzle over a variety of balsamic roasted veggies-Drizzle some inside lettuce wraps-Stand in front of the fridge chowing down on raw carrots dipped in the stuff, like I just did!